ENTREPRENEURSHIP AS A CAREER EXPLORATION STRATEGY

Information Interviews, Job Shadowing and Internships are all a great way to learn more about your career interests. If you want to put your career exploration in full throttle, consider working for yourself in high school or college in an area that interests you as well as where you can provide a marketable service or product.

An Example:

While interviewing students for a highly competitive ambassadors program at a high school, the interview panel came across a student that ended up being at the top of the heap of candidates.  Why? She demonstrated her ability to be a self-starter and a hard worker through her business.  That’s right, she’s 16 and owns her own business.  She’s a dancer and realized that there was a huge need for people to cut recordings of music for dance competitions.  She bought some software to do this and taught herself how to cut and mix music.   She loves it, is learning more about the field, and is making money.

Where could you be a student entrepreneur?

• Like video games?  Teach yourself to code and design your own to market. Same goes for apps.  Outsource your coding services to businesses that need it.
• Are you a social media fanatic?   Who would pay you to post for their business to in order build their brand?
• Interested in accounting?  Take a class in high school or college and see if you can get small businesses to outsource their book keeping to you.
• Considering being a writer?  Explore where you can submit freelance pieces. How about an editor?  Explore where you can proof articles on contract.
• Want to design things? Make stuff and sell it on Etsy or explore where your services like graphic design could be contracted out to others.
• Want to be a baker or chef?  Where can you market your cakes/pastries/desserts to an already open storefront for them to sell directly to the public?
• Want to get into the business side of the medical field?  Learn medical coding, billing, or transcription and explore doctors’ offices that would like to outsource this to you.
• Have a knack for fixing things?  Market yourself online as a resource for fixing anything from cars, to toys to computers.

There is no need to wait to explore career fields, the best way to learn if you like something or not is to do it!  Sell that lemonade!

What type of work would you want to do as an entrepreneur?